Pierre Verbaeten

Bio: Pierre Verbaeten is an academic researcher from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. The author has contributed to research in topics: Component (UML) & Middleware (distributed applications). The author has an hindex of 17, co-authored 150 publications receiving 1149 citations.

Portable Support for Transparent Thread Migration in Java

Abstract: In this paper, we present a mechanism to capture and reestablish the state of Java threads. We achieve this by extracting a thread’s execution state from the application code that is executing in this thread. This thread serialization mechanism is implemented by instrumenting the original application code at the byte code level, without modifying the Java Virtual Machine. We describe this thread serialization technique in the context of middleware support for mobile agent technology. We present a simple execution model for agents that guarantees correct thread migration semantics when moving an agent to another location. Our thread serialization mechanism is however generally applicable in other domains as well, such as load balancing and checkpointing.

Location-independent object invocation in open distributed systems

Abstract: Object naming and location schemes are of vital importance in an open distributed system, since they provide the basis for all interactions between objects in distributed applications. In this paper we present the COMET naming scheme, which is tailored to an open environment. This naming scheme is complemented by a location scheme, that ensures efficient mapping of location-independent names on object addresses.

Bridging the gap between web application firewalls and web applications

Abstract: Web applications are the Achilles heel of our current ICT infrastructure. NIST's national vulnerability database clearly shows that the percentage of vulnerabilities located in the application layer increases steadily. Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) play an important role in preventing exploitation of vulnerabilities in web applications. However, WAFs are very pragmatic and ad hoc, and it is very hard to state precisely what security guarantees they offer.The main contribution of this paper is that it shows how, through a combination of static and dynamic verification, WAFs can formally guarantee the absence of certain kinds of erroneous behaviour in web applications. We have done a prototype implementation of our approach building on an existing static verification tool for Java, and we have applied our approach to a medium-sized J2EE based web application.

DAViM: a dynamically adaptable virtual machine for sensor networks

Abstract: Sensor networks are being deployed for substantial periods of activity, and are being used by multiple applications with possibly diverse requirements. Since manually upgrading or updating sensor software is often impossible, run-time software reconfiguration represents a considerable success factor for many practical usage scenarios of sensor networks. This paper presents DAViM, the Distrinet Adaptable Virtual Machine and describes how it allows to customize sensor behavior, to extend its functionality and to execute multiple applications in parallel. We have evaluated the proposed architecture by implementing a proof-of-concept prototype on micaZ hardware. First results indicate that it is already feasible to run the DAViM core on micaZ hardware, while memory requirements of the full DAViM implementation are close enough to fit on more recent sensor hardware.

Aspects should not die

Abstract: Department of Computer Science, K.U.Leuven

An overview of AspectJ

Abstract: Aspect] is a simple and practical aspect-oriented extension to Java With just a few new constructs, AspectJ provides support for modular implementation of a range of crosscutting concerns. In AspectJ's dynamic join point model, join points are well-defined points in the execution of the program; pointcuts are collections of join points; advice are special method-like constructs that can be attached to pointcuts; and aspects are modular units of crosscutting implementation, comprising pointcuts, advice, and ordinary Java member declarations. AspectJ code is compiled into standard Java bytecode. Simple extensions to existing Java development environments make it possible to browse the crosscutting structure of aspects in the same kind of way as one browses the inheritance structure of classes. Several examples show that AspectJ is powerful, and that programs written using it are easy to understand.

GloMoSim: a library for parallel simulation of large-scale wireless networks

Abstract: A number of library based parallel and sequential network simulators have been designed. The paper describes a library, called GloMoSim (Global Mobile system Simulator), for parallel simulation of wireless networks. GloMoSim has been designed to be extensible and composable: the communication protocol stack for wireless networks is divided into a set of layers, each with its own API. Models of protocols at one layer interact with those at a lower (or higher) layer only via these APIs. The modular implementation enables consistent comparison of multiple protocols at a given layer. The parallel implementation of GloMoSim can be executed using a variety of conservative synchronization protocols, which include the null message and conditional event algorithms. The paper describes the GloMoSim library, addresses a number of issues relevant to its parallelization, and presents a set of experimental results on the IBM 9076 SP, a distributed memory multicomputer. These experiments use models constructed from the library modules.

Middleware for Internet of Things: A Survey

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) envisages a future in which digital and physical things or objects (e.g., smartphones, TVs, cars) can be connected by means of suitable information and communication technologies, to enable a range of applications and services. The IoT’s characteristics, including an ultra-large-scale network of things, device and network level heterogeneity, and large numbers of events generated spontaneously by these things, will make development of the diverse applications and services a very challenging task. In general, middleware can ease a development process by integrating heterogeneous computing and communications devices, and supporting interoperability within the diverse applications and services. Recently, there have been a number of proposals for IoT middleware. These proposals mostly addressed wireless sensor networks (WSNs), a key component of IoT, but do not consider RF identification (RFID), machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), other three core elements in the IoT vision. In this paper, we outline a set of requirements for IoT middleware, and present a comprehensive review of the existing middleware solutions against those requirements. In addition, open research issues, challenges, and future research directions are highlighted.